How Rudy turned his life around

moviekid

SIDEBAR

Sometimes a nudge in an unexpected direction can change the course of your life.

At 19, Rudy Tijerino was wasting time. He had dropped out of Mohawk College, spent time drinking, smoking and partying.

He came from a family once saddled with drug addiction. His parents worried he would end up the same way.

He wanted to act but how do you break into a business like that? Who gives you your lucky break?

His friend told him about Liberty For Youth, a Hamilton nonprofit group that helps disadvantaged and marginalized youth.

Tijerino went in with the same attitude he took to most of his school classes.

“Class clown,” he said. “I look back now and feel sorry for my high school teachers. I went in there the same way. I didn’t take it seriously at all.”

Liberty For Youth has a simple philosophy: no youth is beyond reach. Since 2003, the charitable organization has offered support to more than 225 youths in trouble. They are either in poverty, on probation, involved in gangs or trapped in negative environments.

Staff connected with Tijerino, spent time with him. The organization paid for Tijerino to go to acting school. So far, the charity has given $45,500 to scholarships, donated by Hamilton Police in annual fundraisers. Rudy is among 12 youths in the program who are the first in their families to graduate from a postsecondary school.

The staff, with patience and guidance, helped Tijerino find focus in his life.

“They made me think twice about the things I was doing,” he said. “I want to be taken seriously.”

At age 22, Tijerino is now starring in a short feature film premièring at SilverCity Ancaster on Thursday. Dark Rum, a student film, is about three young men who are trying to find peace in their life.

Not unlike Tijerino.

Marcello Mercanti, the movie’s writer and director, saw Tijerino in another student film project and thought he’d be the perfect fit.

“He has a lot of energy. He’s very easygoing. He’s the spice that a film needs.”

Mercanti, a McMaster University theatre and film studies graduate, set money aside to pay for a screening at a theatre. He did the same thing for another film last year.

“I’m still a student-level filmmaker. Just because it’s playing at SilverCity, it’s not like they asked me. But there’s no comparison to the big-screen. I’m a big believer in the cinema experience,” said Mercanti, also 22. “It’s a good way to show your work and it helps me get stronger as a filmmaker, to throw myself out there like that.”

It will be available online at vimeo following Thursday’s screening.

Tijerino wants to succeed as an actor but also wants to encourage other youths to find their passion. He dedicates time volunteering with Liberty for Youth on Upper James Street.

“Rudy is a success story,” said Frederick Dryden, executive director and founder of Liberty for Youth. “I’m so encouraged by him and what he’s done.”